Attorney General wants charity index

A spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s consumer protection division says the agency will ask the legislature to approve a new Iowa index of all charities soliciting funds in the state, including how much of each dollar goes to charity instead of just fundraising. Bill Brauch says most states already do this.

“We’re one of only ten states that doesn’t have this kind of a law to benefit the residents of the state who want to make charitable contributions, and we think its important for people to be able to trust that when they donate to charity the money goes to a charitable purpose,” Brauch says. He says some fundraising would be exempt.

“We don’t want to require the local little league to have to file papers with us and pay a fee. There would be a fee for charities, which would be a graduated fee, a very small fee for small charities, but not for the ones that are exempt, the very small charities,” Brauch says. Brauch says in the meantime as Iowans make charitable contributions before the end of the calendar year, they should check with the Better Business Bureau which keeps track of how well charities put their contributions to use.